The internet is used by 60% of business travellers and 50% of leisure travellers when booking a hotel in the UK, according to the British Hotel Guest 2007 report.
In 2006, only 44% of business travellers and 37% of leisure travellers booked UK hotels online.
The report was researched and produced by BDRC, which questioned 803 business and 809 leisure travellers.
It showed that 89% of these travellers book through search engines compared with 41% going straight to the hotel website.
Of the online travel websites, Expedia is number one in terms of sites visited (31%) and rooms booked with lastminute.com taking second place (29%).
The survey found the UK hotel market saw domestic business volume up almost 5% on last year.
In the last seven years, branded room supply has increased by almost 50%, with the budget sector doubling its stock since 2000.
When it comes to choosing one hotel over another 43% of business travellers claim their top priority is access to free broadband in their bedrooms with free wireless internet access the top priority in 38%.
By Bev Fearis
